2. From conceptual modeling to requirements engineering

2.1 Conceptualization and development cycle of an IS

All engineering activities, whatever they may be, aim to create a product. Civil engineering, for example, aims to build bridges, automotive engineering manufactures cars, etc. IS engineering aims to build products that are information systems. Like bridges and cars, IS products can be described at different levels of detail and abstraction. There are two main levels in IS engineering: the conceptual product and the realized product. It is universally accepted that all engineering activities leading to an IS product can be organized into two groups (figure 1 ):

• conceptualization activities;...